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The Rangers play host to the Arizona Coyotes tonight, who are off to a hot start. Well, it’s a hot start considering everyone expects them to be a tire fire this year. But they have scored 18 goals in six games so far (allowing 14 in the process), so their offense has carried them to a 3-2-1 record. They are led by a lot of skilled rookies, including former Ranger Anthony Duclair. Duclair was the key piece in the Keith Yandle deal, which seemed to work out for both teams.

The Rangers played their best game of the year on Monday, and are looking to keep that ball rolling against the young ‘Yotes. Arizona still doesn’t have a good defense or goaltending, but they are pretty loaded with skill. The Rangers haven’t really done a good job at limiting shot attempts, but at least have limited scoring chances and high-danger scoring chances to an extent. This should be a fast paced game.

What have they done lately?

 

The Yotes are off to a hot start with 18 goals in six games, led by Duclair with five goals. Hanzal leads the team in points (eight assists), and kids have four of the top five scoring spots on the roster. Smith is off to a good start too, with a .932 SV%. It’s unlikely the Yotes can keep this up, but they are pretty hot to start the season.

One of the main reasons to assume Arizona can’t keep this up is their possession rate. They are a 46.7% possession team, which is 25th in the league. Another reason: They have a whopping 109 PDO with a 12.6 SH%, that is going to come down pretty quickly. This team is white-hot right now.

Yotes Systems

On the ice, Dave Tippett runs a very conservative style of play. The Coyotes run a 1-2-2 hybrid trap, which is something they’ve been running for some time down in the desert. They aren’t anything out of they ordinary when it comes to defensive zone schemes (zone defense), power play strategies (umbrella), or penalty kill formations (hybrid, depends on puck location/situation). This is a very passive hockey club that will capitalize on mistakes in the neutral zone.

Yotes Lines

Mikkel Boedker-Antoine Vermette-Shane Doan
Max Domi-Martin Hanzal-Anthony Duclair
Tobias Rieder-Brad Richardson-Steve Downie
Kyle Chipchura-Boyd Gordon-Matthias Plachta

Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Michael Stone
Klas Dahlbeck-Zbynek Michalek
Nicklas Grossmann-Connor Murphy

PP1: Duclair, Domi, Hanzal, Boedker, OEL
PP2: Doan, Rieder, Vermette, Boedker, OEL

PK: Gordon, Chipchura, Rieder, Hanzal, Vermette, Richardson, Grossmann, Michalek, Murph, Dahlbeck

Mike Smith gets the start.

Rangers Lines

Rick NashDerek StepanMats Zuccarello
Chris KreiderDerick BrassardJesper Fast
Oscar LindbergKevin HayesJ.T. Miller
Viktor StalbergDominic MooreJarret Stoll

Ryan McDonaghKevin Klein
Keith YandleDan Girardi
Marc StaalDan Boyle

PP1: Yandle, Boyle, Nash, Stepan, Zuccarello
PP2: McDonagh, Miller, Kreider, Brassard, Hayes

PK: Stepan, Nash, Moore, Lindberg, Girardi, McDonagh, Staal, Klein

Henrik Lundqvist is in net.

Scratches/Injuries: Emerson Etem (healthy), Dylan McIlrath (healthy)

Crazy Prediction: Hank gets his first shutout of the year.

Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 7pm on MSG. All gifs will be on nyrgifs.com.

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